Apr 12
18
In a weak and fearful culture, “Titanic 2012″ challenged men to Courage
ChristianGovernance eletter – April 18, 2012
Judging by the feedback from attendees, our second annual Titanic anniversary event was a great success.
We were challenged about the implications of courage – and especially courageous manhood – in standing for righteousness in the face of an increasingly hostile world. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, facing death in a raging furnace for refusing to worship the king as gods, is not an account of relevance only to super-Christians. These were young men who took a simple stand for truth and righteousness against the prevailing false ideology of their day, and they risked their lives for it. The king who they crossed – Nebuchadnezzar – demonstrated the same irrational foolishness that is exhibited today by raging humanists when they are crossed. This intellectual entertainment is on full display right now as humanists foam at the mouth against the Wildrose Party and its leader Danielle Smith. She’s somewhat conservative, but she doesn’t take important Christian positions on important ethical and public policy issues, yet Canada’s top wordsmiths and intellectual luminaries – our journalists – are raging at her. They aren’t turning up the heat of an already deadly furnace, but they’ve abandoned reason for ad hominem attacks, and compelling knock-out blows like labeling a party led by a woman as a cabal of grumpy, old, white guys. A two-year-old home schooler could talk circles around 97% of today’s Canadian journalists. Where are our Shadrachs, Meshachs and Abednegos?
Husbands were provoked challenged to be real men – sacrificial, spiritual, servant-leaders – for their wives. Modern egalitarianism is a destructive ideology that is dressed up to look civilized. For many, it’s also the only option on the table because Christians have forgotten how to articulate and demonstrate a gracious, respectful model of the husband’s headship. The Canadian Christian world needs men who know how to be men in marriage. Many married men read and study their Bibles regularly because they are the spiritual leaders of their homes, and they have to disciple their wives, and care for their hearts. Manly married men provide for their wives and children spiritually as well as materially. Manly marriageable men don’t follow the heathen world in making a lifestyle, or long-term practice, out of “Diaper Dominion” while sending their wives out to be the family’s breadwinner.
We were inspired by the Christian legacy of the 93rd British Regiment, a troop of self-consciously Christian soldiers who left a great legacy of how the Christian faith impacts soldiering. The way these men engaged in battle, the way they treated civilians, and the priority they placed on discipleship and worship set a standard that may still remain unchallenged to this day. Their courage, their loyalty, their charity, their discipline would make a noble quest for every man to emulate. In their day, civilians would shudder when they were required to host soldiers in their homes. The call would go out, “Lock up your daughters.” But when these 93rd soldiers resided with locals, they led their hosts in family worship. They were disciplined and temperate men, much to the dismay of local tavern owners who would expect a great influx of revenue when soldiers were living in town. There are many and varied reports about the distinctive legacy of the 93rd Regiment.
Is this an eclectic set of topics to cover at a single conference? Perhaps. But the point is there is absolutely no area of life in which one’s worldview and belief system is irrelevant. Christians living Christianly provide a unique and distinct testimony in every area of life they impact. You see this in our intersection with social, cultural and political leadership. You see that in marriage and family life. You see that in warfare and soldiering. You also see that in education, psychology, law, medicine, business, architecture, charity and the rest of human experience. There is no such thing as neutrality in this world. You serve God or you don’t. You recognize the Lordship of Christ or you don’t. You obey God’s law or you don’t. The Bible is clear and repetitive: there are only two options. Apathy and silence are choices against God, not expressions of neutrality.
At our dinner, an excellent meal catered by Winchelsea Events, we enjoyed food that was eaten by first class Titanic passengers, and we heard a message on the courage to lead. You can’t be a Christian leader if you aren’t leading under Christ. We are not autonomous leaders, trying things out on our own to see what works and what doesn’t. We are vice-regents under the sovereign King, Jesus Christ, exercising dominion in His name, and according to His law-word, over every area of life. We sat at the feet of Nehemiah, who exercised exemplary leadership against great odds to rally God’s people to a mighty task.
So many people were involved this year to help make our Titanic anniversary conference and dinner a great success. We had many volunteers and helpers this year, some in the public eye, such as the wonderful actors and musicians who participated in our dinner and our servers during the meal, and many others who made decorations, billeted our speakers, designed our program, prepared various “extras” that rounded out the experience, such as our Titanic boarding passes and the outfits for our servers. We are especially grateful to Jan and Etienne for the many and varied ways they put their artistic talents to work to make the dinner experience what it was, and to Carolyn for her leadership in the kitchen with the food service during the conference and the dinner. We also have much praise and appreciation for the quality of the facility where we held the event, Our Lady of the Visitation banquet hall. It was also very affordable and they were great to work with.
We hope to have some pictures and recordings of the lectures available soon so that more of you can share in the very worthwhile and enjoyable experience that was had by those who participated in this year’s event.
ChristianGovernance is a Biblical worldview organization, Canada’s most active Biblical worldview organization committed to teaching Christians the importance of having a Biblical worldview for faithful Christian living before a watching world. Biblical worldview is about the sufficiency of Scripture. It’s not enough to believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. We must also believe in the sufficiency of Scripture. The Bible’s own testimony is that we have all that we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of God, which comes through the infallible specific revelation of the Scriptures. If we don’t self-consciously believe this, then we will end up going elsewhere for help whether it’s Freud or Skinner or Darwin or Horace Mann or John Stuart Mill or Karl Marx or Tommy Douglas or Winston Churchill or Bill Clinton or David Suzuki. The Bible is sufficient and a self-consistent Biblical worldview is necessary for coherent Christian living and a vision that extends beyond our own generation.
We look forward to organizing our 3rd Biblical worldview conference and dinner event next year, Lord willing. Pencil it into your schedule, and we’ll look forward to seeing you then.
In the meantime, stay tuned for more information about our Biblical worldview summer youth camp – WAY Camp – that is coming up quickly. We’ll be announcing more Biblical worldview resources in the near future, including more aspects of our Christian Canadian history project.
Special thanks to our “Courageous Manhood” conference speakers – Jeff Kingswood, Micah Ramsey and John Shearouse – for their excellent ministry among us last Saturday, for making the day such a valuable educational and challenging experience for those who attended. We pray that their ministry would have eternal consequences as each of us takes up the challenges they issued and lives more consistently godly lives as a result – with our priorities, with the choices we make, with the way we approach all our relationships, remembering that we live each moment before the face of God.